[Football] Bad Boy Batty

[Bati wins the Golden Ball, still missing the Copa America and the World Cup to reach the Grand Slam]
[Seniors from all walks of life send blessings, Pele: Batistuta may surpass himself]

[The new Ballon d'Or winner held a party at a Paris nightclub, with Ronaldo and Messi both attending]
[Left behind the trophy, Batistuta left the party early yesterday morning and returned 3 minutes later to take away the Golden Globe]

[Brazilian duo split? Barty did not thank his friends for winning the award]
[Neymar refuted the rumor in live broadcast: There is no conflict, we are fine]

"Oh my God, I'm actually looking for reasons in the news!" Neymar threw himself and the tablet onto the sofa at the same time. This action caused the physiotherapy devices on his legs to be misplaced. He had to get up angrily and put them back in place. "These damn gossips are all clickbait, and they are of no help!"

"So, it's been almost half a month, and you still haven't figured out why baby Barty is ignoring you." Rafina teased her brother while retouching her lip gloss while holding a small makeup box.

"Because that doesn't make sense at all, and there were no signs," Neymar said in frustration. "It started on the day of the Club World Cup. I just wanted to make a phone call to express my best wishes and ask him if he had any - and then there was nothing else. He simply refused to answer my call!"

Rafina closed the small mirror with a snap: "You have already thought about the day of the Club World Cup, why don't you think about it anymore."

"Huh?" Neymar looked over in confusion, "What do you mean?"

"Think about it, what else happened that day besides the game?"

"Except for the games... I didn't go anywhere. I've been receiving physical therapy at home. When Ganso came over, I just asked someone else to pick him up." Neymar almost counted on his fingers, but still had no clue.

“Oh my god,” Rafina rolled her eyes.

Neymar scratched his beard. It grew very fast after not taking care of it for a few days.

"You need to be more specific," he said.

"Can you be more specific? Okay, then..." Rafina stretched out a finger and shook it, "When Manchester City won the championship and the screen cut to the commercials, what were you doing?"

"Uh, playing games?"

"Yes, you were playing games." Rafina's eyes widened. "And what did you do?"

"The game was intense, and I cut off Batistuta's phone - Filho da puta!" Neymar almost jumped up from the sofa, "Just because of this? Because I hung up on him while playing games?"

"Hey! Don't say bad words. Dad would definitely scold you if he were here." Rafina rolled her eyes again: "Of course it's not because you play games, idiot."

"What's that because? Is it because--" Neymar stopped talking halfway through.

Rafina clapped her hands: "Go on, why?"

"Uh, because--Ganso?" Neymar asked hesitantly.

"Bingo! Correct answer, but unfortunately there is no reward." Rafina smiled sweetly at her brother, "Just think about it, Batistuta just led the team to win the championship with great difficulty, and he came back to the locker room, eager to share his joy with you, but you just watched the game and turned around to play games with Ganso and hung up on him. God, I'm getting angry just saying it."

"But, but Ganso, he, we are friends!" Neymar spread his hands and said in shock, "Just like him and Loach, I don't mind that guy living in his house, and I don't mind them eating and playing games together. Sometimes Loach will go to wake Batistuta up. They spend much more time together than I do!"

Rafina smacked her lips in disgust: "Listen to what you said, it sounds like you are trying to excuse yourself."

"What do you mean I'm trying to excuse myself? We didn't mean that in the first place, me and Ganso? ​​Don't be ridiculous. I can't even imagine it."

"Do you want me to remind you that Ganso's girlfriend is quite afraid of you."

"What? This is ridiculous, that's simply... wait." Neymar stood there frozen in place as if his computer had suddenly restarted. After a long while, he suddenly stared at a corner of the sofa and started laughing.

Rafina frowned: "What are you doing?"

"I suddenly realized that Batistuta is jealous, right? He doesn't want me to have any other relationship with Ganso. What does this mean? It means that he cares about me more than he shows!" Neymar looked at his sister with pride and joy, and the corners of his mouth almost curled up to the sky.

Rafina: ...
Rafina: “Will this help you change your situation in any way?”

"Of course!" Neymar replied excitedly, "Oh, this little bastard is so mean to be unhappy about this. Now I know what to do!"

"Excuse me, you are still on the blacklist."

"Simple." Neymar dragged the physiotherapy device to the room and took out a business card. "It's time to call professionals to help."

Rafina's mouth twitched.

This guy is really hopeless.

……

On the afternoon of January 1, in the Carabao Cup semi-final, Manchester City faced Burton Albion, a team from League One, at home.

The four teams that entered the semi-finals were Manchester City, Tottenham, Manchester United and Burton. Manchester City had good luck in the draw, as they drew the weakest Burton, which gave them a chance to adjust and breathe in the tight schedule of January and February.

In this game, Guardiola used his familiar lineup. De Bruyne and Jesus returned from injury and appeared in the starting lineup, while Batistuta finally returned to his familiar right winger position.

In the player tunnel, De Bruyne was handing the captain's armband to Batistuta. As Kompany has yet to return, and the captain in line Fernandinho and David Silva are also temporarily sitting on the bench, Batistuta is still the captain today.

"My God, when was the last time we started together? Last century?" Batistuta joked, turning his head to look at De Bruyne who was adjusting the position of his armband, "Do well today, I missed your pass so much."

De Bruyne put the armband on him, patted it to make sure it would not fall off, then looked up and made eye contact with Batistuta.

"Okay." He smiled, "I'll pass the ball to you."

This familiar feeling of warmth.

Batty raised his signature smile, then raised his hand and clenched his fist: "Go for it!"

De Bruyne exchanged punches with him.

"Well, come on!"

……

At the beginning of the game, Manchester City took the absolute initiative. Burton knew that he could not get the ball better than Manchester City, so he gave up fighting and the whole team retreated to the half court to defend.

Of course, facing the aggressive Manchester City, simply being polite on defense will not have any effect.

In less than 3 minutes, Manchester City launched an attack on the left. Lucas pressed forward and cooperated with Sterling before passing the ball to the front of the goal. Burton's defender was highly alert and hurriedly cleared the ball before Jesus.

However, his clearance was not far enough and B. Silva cleverly intercepted the ball at the back post. He cushioned the ball and passed it to Batistuta. Batistuta shook off the defensive players around him and faced the defenders who rushed over to stop him. He calmly adjusted his posture and shot the ball into the opponent's goal from the spot.

The movements are free and agile.

"Beautiful! Batistuta, I knew you could understand me!" B Silva rushed over and climbed the tree. He had half the credit for the goal. "I watched you shoot the ball. God, the winner of the Ballon d'Or is different. You can't find another one with that kind of confidence in the entire football world!"

"Of course!" Batistuta raised his chin proudly, looking past his teammates who were celebrating in front of him and meeting De Bruyne's eyes.

"Look, Bernardo and I have a tacit understanding. If you don't work harder, he will really put you on the bench."

De Bruyne touched his hair.

Just wait and see who puts who on the bench.

[The ball goes in! The new Ballon d'Or winner dances in front of the goal, opening the scoring for Manchester City! This reminds us of Ronaldinho's fairy-like steps back then, 1-0! In less than 3 minutes, I smelled the scent of tragedy! ]

The commentator's instinct was correct.

In the 10th minute, Manchester City attacked outside the penalty area again. De Bruyne took the ball to the front of the penalty area and made a cross. Batistuta made a slight adjustment after receiving the ball, then he rubbed the ball. He hit a weird rotating arc ball that went straight into the dead corner, and the Burton goalkeeper was unable to reach it.

2-0!

De Bruyne provided an assist in his first game after his comeback, Batistuta scored twice, and Manchester City won another game!
Not long after, just halfway through the first half, in the 24th minute, the Blue Moon Army attacked again. Lucas and Sterling made a two-pass cooperation on the left. Sterling made a cross at a 45-degree angle on the left side of the penalty area. De Bruyne broke into the penalty area and headed the ball into the goal with his knee!

De Bruyne, the midfielder known as Manchester City's king of cakes, also got cheated this time.

Manchester City 3-0 Burton!

This is not over yet.

In the 41st minute, Manchester City extended the lead.

Jesus changed position to the left and dribbled the ball. He cut into the penalty area and created space for a low shot, which was blocked by the goalkeeper. De Bruyne took a corner kick and Batistuta jumped high and headed the ball into the goal, completing a hat trick in the first half.

4-0!

Manchester City entered the halftime break with the score no longer in doubt.

……

"It seems that some people have been training hard during the recovery period." In the locker room, Batistuta came to De Bruyne and teased, "I even doubt whether you are really injured, Kevin. How can someone make a seamless transition right after returning from an injury?" "Of course I have to perform better, otherwise some people will say that I should go to the bench." The Belgian midfielder looked up and answered, and by the way helped Batistuta straighten the shorts that were almost exposed to the roots of his thighs. "It's only January, you should be careful not to catch a cold."

"I'm very hot now." Batty slapped De Bruyne's hand away and teased him deliberately: "And there are so many people in the locker room wearing shorts like this, such as Raheem, why don't you help him."

De Bruyne opened his eyes wide in surprise and gave Batistuta a 'you know why' expression. Batistuta grinned silently and then reached out and touched his nose.

"Stop kidding, Batistuta, let's be serious." The Belgian grabbed Batistuta's hand, "You saw it, right? I scored a goal in the first half."

"Uh-huh, I brought back a hat, and then what?"

"What I want to say is," De Bruyne deliberately dragged out his voice, "scoring a goal is not that difficult at all."

"Oh?" Batty blinked with interest. "You sound very angry today, Kevin."

“Because it’s not hard at all.”

"so what?"

"So, Batistuta." De Bruyne let go of his hand and looked up at him, with a hint of provocation, "I'm sure I can still assist in the second half, how about you, can you still score?"

……

In the second half, Batistuta showed De Bruyne what would happen if he provoked him.

In the 51st minute, Gundogan dribbled the ball and looked around. In the frontcourt, Batistuta frantically raised his hands to ask for the ball. The German hesitated. Although there were defensive players closely marking Batistuta behind him, Bernardo and Kevin were nearby and could come forward to help. Gundogan still chose to pass the ball.

Then--

[What?! Batistuta stole the ball from De Bruyne! What is he going to do?]

doing what?
Tell Kevin he doesn't need a god-level pass to score.

Perhaps because of De Bruyne's return, or because of De Bruyne's provocation during the halftime break, Batistuta got excited and was extremely excited from the second half.

Steal the ball from your teammate?
So what.

As long as the ball goes in, who cares where it comes from?

[Bati! In the penalty area, dribbling horizontally... still dribbling, passing the defense, Burton's entire defense line is nothing in front of him... can shoot! The ball goes in! Batistuta dribbled past several players horizontally and shot with his left foot! Scored a Messi-style goal in the classic Messi corridor! This is his fourth goal in this game! ]

5-0!

Batty scored four goals.

The home fans sang the Little Kings' songs and cheered like crazy.

"See?" Batistuta celebrated on the spot after scoring the goal. He gave De Bruyne a proud look and said, "Never say I can't do it, understand!"

De Bruyne achieved his goal.

"I understand." He stepped forward and ruffled Barty's hair. "You're the best."

……

Because he was worried that Batistuta would be too excited and consume too much energy, Guardiola quickly replaced him. In the 68th minute, Manchester City made a substitution, Phil Foden replaced De Bruyne, and Mahrez replaced Batistuta.

However, Manchester City's attack did not stop because of the departure of these two people.

In the 75th minute, Manchester City attacked from the right, Mahrez got rid of the defender in the penalty area and made a cross, Jesus followed up with a shot, Manchester City 6-0 Burton.

Five minutes later, Lucas made a cross from the bottom, Jesus' shot was saved by the goalkeeper, and Foden followed up with a shot to score, and Manchester City extended the score to 5-7.

In the last 7 or 8 minutes of the game, Burton players had obviously lost their fighting spirit. Kyle Walker and Mahrez scored consecutively. When the 90 minutes were up, the referee blew the whistle immediately without giving even a second more.

The camera turned to the bench, and it seemed that Batistuta was amused by Walker's crazy celebration after scoring the goal. He fell on De Bruyne's legs with laughter. Then he looked up and said something, and De Bruyne also laughed with his eyes curved.

In the end, Manchester City defeated Burton 9-0 and entered the League Cup final with a score of 12-1 in two rounds.

……

After the game, because De Bruyne returned, Batistuta returned all the interview tasks to him. On the way back to the locker room, several Burton players stopped him and asked for autographs. He generously signed their jerseys and then took photos with everyone.

After entering the locker room, Batty did not take a shower as usual. He took his phone and went to the inner room to lie on the therapy bed. He waved to the science officer who was a little stunned over there: "Hey, Alan, come over and help me with your high-tech stuff!"

"What's wrong?" Arandez ran over nervously, "Where do you feel uncomfortable?"

"Calf." Batty bent his leg and pointed to the other side. "It usually hurts, but it's especially uncomfortable today, and it feels tight."

"Okay, lie down and let me take a look." Alandes took off Batistuta's shoes and carefully lifted his right leg to check. He asked, "If you felt uncomfortable, why didn't you come over when you were replaced?"

"It's not that serious. It doesn't even affect my walking." Batty opened his phone and checked the news. "And did you watch it? It was so exciting just now. I can't miss the moment when we beat our opponent by a big score."

Arandez gave him a disapproving look: "There's a TV here, broadcasting in high definition."

"But it's still not as good as watching from the sidelines." Batty raised an eyebrow at him. "How is it? Did you find any problems?"

"Not yet. If it's really as you said, then it's not serious." The scientific officer said, "But considering that you feel something is wrong, and something is wrong means that there must be something wrong with your body. We will do a detailed examination when we return."

Batty nodded.

He always listens to the doctor.

"Well." Batty blew his lips and asked slowly: "How long do you think I will rest?"

"It's hard for me to say," Alandos said cautiously. "We have to wait for the test results to come out. Although it doesn't look serious, you will definitely have to rest in the next game anyway."

Take turns.

Okay, that's acceptable.

at this time--

[Ding Ding]
A man dressed as a postman knocked on the door of the physiotherapy room. "Hello, is Mr. Batista Lopo Arthur Santos Moreira here?" he asked politely.

Why does this person look so familiar?

Batty frowned.

"Here." He waved his hand. "You—"

Before he could finish his words, he saw a man taking out a large bouquet of flowers from the side and walked in, followed by a group of teammates who were peering around and giving him lewd smiles.

"This is the second time our company has delivered a message to you on behalf of that gentleman. I don't know if you still remember that our principle is that as long as the money is in place, nothing else matters." The postman stuffed the bouquet into Batty's arms, "Please sign for it."

Batty: ...
He said why it seemed so familiar, so this is how it is.

Looking at the flowers in his arms that were almost half the size of his body, Batty's mouth curled up in a sarcastic arc.

Send flowers? I can't believe it's 2019 and some people still use such a cliché method.

Alandes tactfully left and closed the door of the physiotherapy room. Batty reached out to flip open the flowers with disgust, and found a card inside.

Gee tut.

What? Does having a card make it look innovative?

Barty rolled his eyes and opened the card.

It was a hand-drawn picture of SpongeBob SquarePants. The yellow sponge had its fingers crossed and its eyes wide open, pleading. There were two speech bubbles next to it. One said, "I was wrong. Forgive me!" The other read, "Will you still go jellyfish hunting with me? Patrick?"

"Pfft——" Batty couldn't help laughing out loud.

What SpongeBob and Patrick, did they treat him like a child? I thought I would send him some flowers... Oh, these flowers smell pretty good. Hum, I thought I would draw a picture and make a cute cartoon character... Well, SpongeBob is pretty likable.

He took out his cell phone, unlocked it, removed Neymar's number from the blacklist, then took a photo and sent a message.

Batty: Flowers? Hand-painted?
Batty: You don't think you're creative, do you?
BARTY: And--
Batty: Patrick? How do I resemble that pink nerd?

(End of this chapter)